A YJA Moment: Interstellar Crime

In the shadow of governments there are individuals willing to break the law in pursuit of wealth. There are literally millions of small criminal outfits operating in Known Space, but the following the most powerful and well known:

Some of the oldest and most successful criminals in known space have been The Reach, a race of insectoids that dwell in roaming fleets across the known universe.  So powerful are they that they fought the Green Lantern Corps to a stand-still, forcing the Guardians of Oa to sign a treaty. They are known to fool younger species into inviting them to their worlds with the promise of high technology, only to subvert their governments and strip-mine their natural resources.  Their last endeavor was the disastrous infiltration of Earth, which revealed their treaty violations to the Lanterns and renewed their ancient conflict.

In the Milky Way Galaxy, the most wide-spread organizations s is the Hutt Clans, which are headquartered in Cartel Space on the Outer Rim.  There is nothing that the Cartel will not deal with, which has made them very rich but has also made it difficult for them to forge alliances since everyone views them as competition.

The Orions are a green-skinned near-human race that operates out of the Rigel system.  Members of the Orion Syndicate were known primarily as pirates and slavers in their early days and the reputation has been very hard to shake.  Today they are primarily involved in racketeering, smuggling and extortion but still operate in their traditional trades.

Members of the reptilian Falleen species founded Black Sun centuries ago.  They grew along with the Galactic Republic, becoming much more multi-cultural but maintaining the singular focus in smuggling contraband.  During the height of the Republic, the Black Sun rivaled the Hutts for influence but made a mistake in betraying the Separatists during the Clone Wars.  The Sith took great offense to the Vigos leading Black Sun and hunted them down, with Darth Vader himself responsible for the death of much of its leadership.  Never fully recovered, the Black Sun grows more and more desperate to maintain its remaining holdings from its rivals.

The Ravagers began as little more than gangsters on Xandar, dealing in racketeering and petty crimes.  Over the years, as its members were forced to relocate to other systems by rivals and law enforcement, they founded more and more branch chapters.  Eventually, they became powerful and transformed into the criminal mercenary enterprise.  The Ravagers are known to do almost anything for credits, except for a few choice prohibitions mandated by their collected Captains.

A YJA Moment - The Starborn

It is undoubtedly true that the much of the life in the universe is anthropomorphic, the amount of human and near-human species within the Known Universe is startling.  Even incredibly old species such as the Maltusians, from which the Controllers and Guardians of Oa descend from, had initially a very human-like appearance.

The truth is that much of the sentient life in the universe originated from the race known as the Celestials.  Whether they were the first life to evolve self-awareness or hailed from another reality, the giant Celestials possessed an anthropomorphic from.  In an attempt to colonize the known universe, they seeded untold worlds with the building blocks of life based on their own genetics.

Over the billions of years, these species evolved into their current form, the conditions of their home-worlds altering their development.  The Kree were stronger due to the heavier gravity of their homeworlds, while The Kherans gained longer life-spans due to interbreeding with aliens.  Some like the Deltans would develop what would be described as a human-like appearance, while others like the Gand and Yautja were far more alien in appearance.

Some races would further alter their physiology, such as the Kryptonians bio-engineered their physiology to be nourished by solar energy, or the Borg who initially developed advanced cybernetics in order to improve themselves.

However there are many humans in the galaxy who would directly be related to the Terrans of Earth.  The species of sentient worm known as the Goa'uld discovered humans thousands of years ago.  Finding they were far more symbiotically compatible than their previous hosts, The System Lords enslaved thousands of them and carried them to worlds in their Empire such as the future-core-worlds of Coruscant and Corellia.

Many years after the fall of the System Lords, during the eras of the Dynasties, the Imperium, and the Galactic Republic, these humans would then spread out across the Galaxy.  The human supremacy movement endorsed by the Galactic Empire made humanity even more wide-spread and embedded into positions of power.  Even today, humans remain some of the most influential and wealthy species in Known Space.

Despite this there are still thousands of species that do not share a common lineage.  The Skrulls were shape-shifters who developed independently of the Celestials.  Likewise, the Cybertronians, Goa'uld, the Hutts, and the Tholians also developed independently and thus had a very different physiology.

A YJA Moment - Guardians of the Galaxy

The Kree Empire and many other governments had been invaded by the Annihilation Wave, an army of alien insects that had emerged from the Negative Zone.  Although the Kree military had been successful in holding off the incursions in its earlier waves, the cost in personnel and materials were considerable.  With a looming shortage in healthy combatants, the leader of the Kree, the bio-engineered Supreme Intelligence, mandated the formation of penal battalions.

From various penal colonies, penitentiaries, and prison-worlds, the Kree acquired individuals to serve as a force that some satirically called the Guardians of the Galaxy.  Among those enlisted was Peter Quill the infamous Star-Lord, the Daughter of Thanos called Gamora, uplifted-mammal Rocket and his tree-like side-kick Groot, and mercenary Drax the Destroyer.  Together with thousands of other recruits they faced the might of the Annihilation Wave.  Only these five survived.

Quill gathered the survivors into a single group, keeping the name Guardians of the Galaxy in honor of the fallen.  They would become a group of mercenaries, freedom fighters, and occasionally criminals, traveling around known space in pursuit of adventure.  Their membership would swell with temporary members, such as Adam Warlock, Bug, Mantis, Moondragon, and even Mary Marvel, but the five founding-members were always consistent.

Recently while in their starship Milano, the group came across the floating body of Green Lantern Corp member Kyle Rayner.  The Central Power Battery on Oa had been destroyed by the mad god Thanos, stranding thousands of Green Lanterns in space.  Kyle's ring was only barely able to keep him alive when he was rescued but managed to inform the crew of the situation.

Taking the Milano to Earth, Quill sought out the Mary Marvel, the only other Guardian that he knew the current location of.  They were unfortunately ambushed by Thanos and his Chitauri, disabling his spacecraft in the process.  Their heavily damaged ship crash-landed in Malaysia, where they met the Mythic Avengers.  The Guardians and Avengers then traveled to Oa with Ironheart in their new ship, the Space Robin.

After liberating the legendary starship Millennium Falcon, the Guardians of the Galaxy have pledged their support to the Mythic Avengers.

A YJA Moment - Faster-Than-Light

For much of Milky Way galactic history, space travel in the mortal realms was limited to speeds slower than the speed of light.  Technology had progressed far, with Corellian Ion Sublight drives and Vulcan Impulse engines being notable examples at attempts to reach light speed.

During the age of the Old Imperium, the Spacing Guild used Space Fold Engines to bridge interstellar distances.  This solution was imperfect, as the engines were expensive and it required individuals with powerful clairsentient Navigators to properly operate them.  Navigators were only possible using the Melange from the planet Arrakis, which limited access to the technology to the Imperium.

The Light Speed Barrier still eluded researchers.  The solution, it turns out, was not to be found in this dimension. Between the Prime Material universe and the Negative Zone, lies a pocket dimension of unique properties.  Dubbed the Phantom Zone by the ancient Kryptonians, it was independently discovered by the Correllians as Hyperspace and Subspace by the Vulcans.  Stretched thin between to alternate realities, any travel within Hyperspace was amplified thousands of times.  So using a Sublight drive within Hyperspace allowed travelers to move many times faster than the speed of light without dealing with any relativistic issues.

Hyperspace travel opened up the galaxy to exploration and colonization by the humans of the Core Worlds, leading to the foundation of the Galactic Republic.  With the Republic backing, Hyperspace technology spread out amongst the other races, leading to the development of alternate technologies such as the Vulcan Warp Drive s.  Within generations of improvements made the Drives standard equipment on all starships.

One of the earliest sentient races, the fabled Celestials, had discovered the Rainbow Bridge of the Asgardians and created similar Wormhole networks that crisscrossed Known Space.  These wormholes allowed swift travel between sectors which would have taken years or decades of Hyperspace travel. The network had been discovered by various elder species, such as the Goa'uld System Lords, the Maltusians, and the Empire of Thorns but remained largely unknown to the younger species.

The network was first discovered by the scientists on Hala, the homeworld of the Kree.  Unable to directly enter the Network due to dimensional instabilities, they created Gateways that they installed in the areas where realspace and the wormholes intersected.  With the formation of the Kree Empire and its interstellar transport system, true intergalactic travel was a reality.

Soon the technology would be stolen by Kree's enemies the Skrulls and would soon filter to the rest of the major sentient races, who installed their own gateways and created what would eventually be known as the Jump Point Network.  Today, most ships possess the apparatus required to access the Jump Network.  Since the Wormhole entrances are often many lightyears apart from each other, most ships possess both Subluminal and Superluminal drives.

A YJA Moment - The Red Lanterns

One of the first threats the Guardians of Oa faced to their goal of an orderly universe, was the Empire of Thorns. Unlike its peers, the Empire of Thorns was a magical-based Empire, using spells and summoned creatures to conquer worlds.  At its head were five magically-empowered aliens, the Five Inversions, which the servants of the Empire worshiped as literal demons.

In order to end the threat of the Empire, the Guardians' police force, the Manhunters, chose to scourge the home sector of the Inversions, murdering trillions of souls in the process.  One of the few beings to survive the onslaught was Atrocitous, the last of the Five Inversions.  He shielded himself from the Manhunters sensors as they razed his homeworld of Ryut, looted his relic vaults, and stole his greatest weapon, the Starheart.

Stranded on Ryut for millennia, Atrocitous plotted his revenge against the Guardians of Oa.  He became aware that the Manhunters had been discarded and that the Green Lantern Corp has taken their place.  Divining their abilities, the Last Inversion formulated a plan.  All it required was a specific spell to create an emission of exotic energies...

When the Green Lantern assigned to the Lost Sector landed on Ryut to investigate the anomaly, Atrocitous struck from the shadows and killed him, strangling him with his own bare hands.  Using pre-prepared rituals, he captured the Power Ring as it attempted to leave the planet and find a new recruit, thereby concealing from the Guardians the fate of their Lantern.

Using unspeakable magics that drew from the anguish of the billion ghosts on Ryut, Atrocitous corrupted the Power Ring, turning it from harnessing Willpower to drawing power from Anger.  At the end of the week-long ritual, the Ring had turned a dark red, the color of the blood that was spilt.  The color of boundless rage.

Atrocitous built a spectral altar to draw in the spirits of the Lost Sector.  It was shaped like the Central Battery on Oa in mockery of the Guardians.  

Unlike the Oan Rings, the Red Rings of Rage are far more limited but also powerful.  They turn the blood of the wielder into corrosive plasma which the wielder can expectorate at his enemies.  The plasma is capable of eating through almost any substance, even the hard-light constructs of the Green Lantern Corps.  They also have the ability to infect other Oan Power Rings, disrupting them with the power of hate. 

Unfortunately, wielders of the rings have problems dealing with the extreme motions embodied by the Rings, often descending into mindless berzerker rage.  Atrocitous remains the only individual seemingly capable of handing a Red Power Ring, using is knowledge of magic to emulate the solid constructs that the other varieties of Rings of capable.

A YJA Moment - The Sinestro Corp

Thaal Sinestro was once the idea that new recruits to the Green Lantern Corps looked up to.  He was charismatic, a natural leader, and a brilliant tactician.  Responsible for some of the Corps' greatest victories he earned the trust of the Guardians of Oa, granting him access to history and knowledge hidden from his fellow Corpsmen.

Yet Sinestro had a dark secret, one he carefully kept from his masters on Oa.  He cared little for the goals of the Guardians, finding them watered-down and ineffective.  Indeed, his views on law & order were far more rigid, more resembling Controller ideals than Guardian.  In his home sector, he was a tyrant, crushing all dissent and executing those he felt were dangerous to his new order.

In the end, it would take an investigation by a newly-recruited human, Hal Jordan, to reveal Sinestros treachery.  Promptly severed from the Central Power Battery, an arrest order was made, but the ‎Korugaran managed to evade capture.  He disappeared into the worlds beyond Known Space, where he plotted his revenge.

Having learned about the Weaponeers of Qward, he found a means of traveling into the Negative Zone.  There promised the Qwardians vengeance against the Guardians in exchange for their aid.  Giving them his de-powered ring and knowledge of the emotional spectrum, he tasked them with recreating a ring that drew on an emotion that was more suited to tastes: Fear.

With his new Yellow Power Ring, he ventured back into the Prime Universe, coming to Earth to seek out his revenge against the Green Lantern of Earth.  Over the next few years, he would be a thorn in the side of Jordan and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps.  It was all a ruse, however; a ploy to keep them distracted as the Qwardians constructed something larger - a Central Power Battery.

Before the Guardians could act, aliens from throughout the universe were visited by Yellow Power Rings, praising their ability to instill great fear.  The Universe soon had a new Corp dedicated to bringing fear and order to all peoples.  A Corp that deserved to be named after the man who willed them into existence:  The Sinestro Corp.

Recently, Thaal Sinestro sought out a new power source in his crusade against the Guardians.  Attempting to use the First Ring to draw the Anti-Life power of the Invisible Spectrum, he was captured by members of the Mythic Avengers.  In his stead, his daughter Soranik Natu has taken his father's surname, and as Soranik Sinestro has taken leadership of the Sinestro Corps.

A YJA Moment - The Empire and the First Order

Text derived from Wookiepedia and Wikipedia

The Galactic Empire, also known as The New Order, was the government that rose to power in the aftermath of The Clone Wars, replacing The Galactic Republic. Central authority was given to Darth Sidious, publicly known as Emperor Palpatine, who was also a Dark Lord of the Sith. For nearly two decades, the legislative body was The Imperial Senate, but it was dissolved by the Emperor shortly before The Battle of Yavin. During the reign of the Empire, countless star systems were conquered and dissident actions ruthlessly stamped out by the rapidly expanding Imperial Army and Navy. The Empire also oversaw the near extermination of the Jedi, with the destruction of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and its renovation into the newly named Imperial Palace.

After nineteen years of minimal resistance, the Empire would face its first major setback after losing its planet-destroying battle station known as the Death Star to The Rebellion. The following four years would see the Galactic Civil War wage across the galaxy as the Order rapidly attempted to stamp out the growing Rebellion on the galaxy's outer fringes.

Following the death of Galactic Emperor Palpatine and his right hand man Darth Vader in the Battle of Endor, the Empire would be fragmented as the New Republic began the process of liberation.  In order to preserve their government and way of life, the bulk of the Imperial Navy and Army retreated to the systems surrounding the planet of Dromand Kaas.  There they would fortify their positions repeatedly defeated any attempt by the New Republic to free their worlds from tyranny.

For untold centuries the Grand Moff council ruled these worlds as the Galactic Empire in exile.  However, most of the Galaxy simply referred to them as the Imperial Remnant.  Rebuilding their forces, the Remnant made many attempts to annex surrounding systems and rebuild their Empire.  Each time,  however, they were driven back by various other groups, such as the Nova Corp, the Kree Empire, and even the Green Lantern Corp.

From within the Sith Order on Moraband came a powerful Dark Side user known only as Snoke, who rose to power in the Remnant and cast out the Grand Moff Council.  He instituted reforms that evolved the Remnant into The First Order, a new government that yet nonetheless remained influenced by New Order ideology.

Many years after its formation, the First Order continues to be ruled by the seemingly-immortal Snoke.  A fearsome adversary, the Order has slowly grown its holdings, subverting and then annexing neighboring worlds.  As yet they have not attempted a full-scale invasion of the galaxy, but with their military forces growing every day, its only a matter of time.

A YJA Moment - The Mandalorians

The warriors known as the Mandalorians are the galaxy's fiercest warriors.  Born from an ancient cult of starborn-humans, ventured to a lush green world which they named Mandalore after their first and greatest leader.  There the warrior clans took the collective knowledge of the galaxy and used it to perfect the art of warfare.  When members believed they were ready, they left their homeworld, seeing to test their skills against the forces in known space.

Their interaction in galactic affairs soon led to encounters with the Jedi, who opposed their aggressive and violent ways.  This led to many battles against the Order, almost all of which the Jedi proved victorious, but at great cost.  Even though they did not prevail, the Mandalorians would continue their ways, learning from their defeats.  They developed new weapons, including their iconic battle-armor, composed of energy-resistant Beskar Steel.

Eventually, the Galactic Republic would intervene in the conflict.  Gathering together an alliance of military forces they joined the Jedi in invading Mandalore in what would be known as the Mandalorian Excision.  Though the cost was unbelievably high, the Mandalorians were defeated, their numbers decimated and their planet made desolate.  While the Republic forces returned to their homes and celebrated, the Mandalorians promptly rebuilt their fortifications, adapting their tactics to correct their perceived weakness.

During the Clone Wars, the Mandalorians sided with the Separatists, using the conflict as an excuse to once again face the Jedi and gain a measure of revenge against the Republic.  Ironically the Republic would use a renegade clansman, Jango Fett, to serve as a template for the Republic Clone Troopers.  Those Clones would descend upon their world and deal a final blow to an independent Mandalore.  For the remainder of the Clones, the planet would be under the Republic occupation.

Even after the defeat of the Separatists and the Sith overthrow of the Republic, the fortunes of Mandalore did not improve.  An Imperial puppet was installed as a leader and the Empire forced conscription of its warriors to serve as super-commandos.  Eventually, the Mandalorians rebelled against their treatment but were all but obliterated by the full might of the Galactic Empire.

The few remaining Mandalorians fled their burning home-world and set up enclaves, becoming mercenaries and bounty hunters in order to survive.  For centuries they have maintained their traditions, honed their skills, and improved their tactics.  For one day, the scattered clans will return to Mandalore, and the galaxy will once again bow to their might.

A YJA Moment - The Jedi and the Sith

Although much of the focus of Metahumans are on Earth, the meta-gene can actually be found in many sentient species throughout the universe.  Animistic worshippers on the planet Typhon discovered that a bacteria known as Midichlorians had the ability to activate their meta-gene.  Those who were so affected almost aways exhibited levels of telekinesis, telepathy, and precognition. 

The worshippers eventually organized themselves into a religious order of protectors that would become known as the Jedi Order.  A Jedi Code governed the Order's way of life; therefore, every Jedi was duty-bound to observe and uphold the Code or else risk banishment from the Order's ranks.  As a result of their principles and tireless pursuit of justice, the Jedi Order became a trusted institution with the Galactic Republic.

The emergence of the Sith Order was the result of a schism that fractured Jedi unity, dividing the Order between the Jedi who remained faithful to the light and a group of renegades that followed a rogue Jedi into exile for exploring their darker impulses. Henceforth, the Jedi and Sith warred with each other for centuries.

During the final years of the Republic, the galaxy was beset by political instability and social unrest which was fuelled by the Sith, who had infiltrated the highest halls of the Republic government.  Their machinations culminated in the execution of Order 66, a secret protocol that turned the Republic's clone soldiers against them.  The subsequent purges of the Galactic Empire contributed to all but total extermination of the Jedi Order.

After the Galactic Empire dissolved as a result of their defeat in the Galactic Civil War, the Jedi attempted to rebuild, forming a new Temple on Yavin 4.  Though the events were never chronicled, the Temple was burned to the ground only a decade after its construction, marking the official end of the Jedi Order.

The teachings of the Jedi exist today only through the efforts of a few Jedi Masters and Knights who continue the traditions of the Order.  The Sith Order continues in the sole remnant of the Galactic Empire known as The First Order.